Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes

These Cherry Bakewell cupcakes are beautifully British and inspired by the cherry bakewell tart. They have both ground almonds and almond extract in them, a raspberry conserve core, and covered with smooth glace icing, then topped off with a sweet glace cherry.

Since The Great British Bake Off is back now for its 5th series (yay), I’m feeling very British. I mean, who can get enough of the reality of 12 amazing bakers all fighting to be crowned the star baker? Me, oh me, pick me!

And let’s not even talk about the show stoppers. They’re all ah-maz-zing. And could it get even better for the contestants working alongside the baking queen that is Mary Berry and the bread master, Paul Hollywood?

But Paul Hollywood’s pin-eyed stare makes me go weak at the knees, and not in a good way. I think I’d break down sobbing my heart out if he were to give me the death stare. Scary!

And this year we even have a contestant from my home city, Nottingham. Do us proud Jordan!

I had everything all set to go for watching The Great British Bake Off when my TiVo decided not to record. It clashed with another program. That had to be rectified immediately, but now I don’t get to see the first episode of series 5 as I refuse to watch in standard definition. Can we say TV snob mucho? My eyes!

And with the Great British Bake Off on a TV screen near you [those of you in the UK, obvs], there’s no better time to team up with OXO and giveaway their some of their fabulous Good Grips baking tools. Are you excited? I am!

As you know already, I suffer with chronic arthritis. There’s more details on my about me page, but basically my arthritis has spread to pretty much all my joints in my body. I started this blog due to my lack of mobility and needing a home-based hobby, but wow sometimes it really is hard to bake having arthritis. I have limited movement and arthritic hands, some of my fingers are even fused.

The OXO Good Grips range have been a lifesaver to me. They help to make things possible for me that other people without arthritis would take for granted. And, did you known the OXO founder, Sam Faber’s wife had arthritis. He noticed her struggling to hold/grip things and specifically developed the Good Grips range. How sweet is that?

OXO have generously agreed to giveaway the following items to one lucky winner. (Giveaway now closed.) The set will include the following tools:

That’s 7 items, and basically e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. you need to make these beautiful delicious cherry bake well cupcakes. 😉 It’s like a marriage made in heaven. Want more details? Of course you do…

OXO 2.8L Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl

Mix doughs, fold batters and whisk vinaigrettes with the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl. The bowl has a non-skid base that makes them extra sturdy and resistant to slipping, even when surfaces are wet.

REVIEW: This bowl is the bomb! I’m quite the messy baker so you can expect to see flour all over my work surfaces. Other bowls slip and slide around with flour, not this bowl. As stated by OXO, it stays put, it’s really sturdy and can take a good beating (pun intended).

At one point I had a wet surface – stayed put, the other time I had a floured surface – again, the bowl didn’t slip an inch. This bowl is big enough to make a sizeable mixture too. This has quickly become my new favourite bowl for batters that need mixing by hand.

Colourful Spatulas

The extended range of colourful spatulas are made from silicone and are heat resistant up to 600°F/315°C, meaning that they wont discolour, warp or melt. Plus, they are safe to use with coated or non-stick cookware. Sturdy yet flexible to easily contour the edges of saucepans, bowls or containers, each spatula will see you through all manner of kitchen tasks.

REVIEW: Yet again, these spatulas stand up to the OXO’s description. They’re sturdily made unlike some of the cheaper spatulas that tend to bend after being washed and don’t scrape the sides properly. Certainly not a problem with these spatulas.

They’re also absolutely fantastic for other cooking jobs. I’m a midnight pancake person [don’t judge], and these spatulas really stand up to the heat of a hot frying pan. I’ve already used them numerous times for helping turn pancakes over, cooking fried eggs, and to scrape the mixing bowls down, of course. Absolutely no warping or melting action going on here, they’re fab. Did I mention they make turning pancakes a breeze?

Cupcake Icing Knife

OXO’s cupcake icing knife will ensure any baker can create a seamless finish when icing their cupcakes. Smaller than your average icing knife, OXO’s new baking tool has a stainless steel blade that combines both stiffness and flexibility to give you extra control while icing.

REVIEW: Yet another winner here. This icing knife is perfectly suited for cupcakes alone, and could be used on larger cakes for details too. The knife itself is sturdy and holds up to scraping excess frosting/icing off on the bowl. The handle is very nice and easy to grip too, and seems to be the same excellent quality you would expect with OXO’s products.

Hand Held Mixer

Combining practicality and ease of use with bags of clever hidden features, this innovative new tool is so safe and straightforward to use that keen bakers of any age won’t want to leave the kitchen. Unlike electrical versions, OXO’s hand held mixer is hand operated and includes a non-slip turning arm and contoured handle that even small hands can hold.

REVIEW: I love this hand held mixer. It’s absolutely perfect for whisking or beating thinner batters, like pancake batter (can you tell it’s almost time for me to have pancakes yet?) It’s also great for cupcake batter too. I managed to cream the butter and sugar together with this hand held mixer alone. The main handle on the body has the non-slip covering, and the handle does too. I wasn’t straining at all to mix the batter, and certainly no sore joints after using.

CUPCAKE CORER

Give your cupcakes that added ‘wow’ factor with OXO’s cupcake corer. This new tool allows you to remove the centre of your cupcakes so you can fill your creations with a range of surprising fillings. The hand-held device expertly cores and removes the centre in one piece, while the soft, non-slip grip is comfortable to use no matter how many delicious cupcakes you are baking.

REVIEW: I have to I admit, I’ve never been much of a fan of cupcake corers in the past, they just never worked for me. I have owned a few and all they did to my beautifully light and airy cupcakes was tear into them. I ended up resorting to a melon baller. That was until I tried the OXO cupcake corer. It’s the perfect size to core cupcakes and doesn’t tear into them. The plastic casing is clear too so you can see exactly how far into the cupcake you’re coring. The cakey core is so easy to remove too, just push the top down and it slips out [for you to eat].

Now, let’s talk about these cherry bake well cupcakes. They’re inspired by the delicious traditional cherry bakewell [tart]. The cherry bake well tart consists of a sweet shortcrust pastry shell, spread with raspberry jam, covered with frangipane, glace icing and a sweet glace cherry on top.

These cherry bakewell cupcakes taste just like the cherry bakewell tart but in cupcake form. The cake in these cherry bakewell cupcakes is enriched with both ground almonds and almond extract, then cored and filled with raspberry conserve, covered with glace icing and topped off with a sweet glace cherry to give that traditional cherry bakewell look and taste.

How to enter

For a chance to win all of the above baking tools by OXO to make your own cherry bakewell cupcakes, all you need to do is read through the simple rules below, then enter using the rafflecopter form.

Any information you submit will not be stored, and kept completely confidential and safe. You will not be signed up to any mailing lists by entering (unless you chose to do so).

Giveaway Rules

This giveaway is open to UK residents only.

When entering, ensure to use a VALID email address in the email fields so I am able to contact you should you win. If using Facebook, again please ensure your Facebook primary email address is one I am able to contact you on.

Ensure that the ‘leave a blog post comment’ email address matches the email address used for entering this giveaway so I am able to verify your comment.

If you already follow Sweet 2 Eat Baking via email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. you can still enter, and the entries will count (entries will be checked validated).

Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes

Yield:12 cupcakes

Prep Time:15 minutes

Cook Time:15 minutes

These Cherry Bakewell cupcakes are beautifully British and inspired by the cherry bakewell tart. They have both ground almonds and almond extract in them, a raspberry conserve core, and covered with smooth glace icing, then topped off with a sweet glace cherry.

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES

110g (½ cup) butter, softened

110g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp almond extract

55g (½ cup) ground almonds

55g (½ cup) self-raising flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

raspberry conserve / jam (jelly)

ICING

250g (2 cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

3 tbsp lemon juice

6 glace cherries, halved

Directions:

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 5 and line a muffin tray with paper cases, set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar with the almond extract until light and fluffy, then add the eggs beating throughly between each addition.

Sift in the flour and baking powder, then add the ground almonds and mix to combine.

Divide the mixture between between the paper cases and bake for around 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, using a cupcake corer, core each of the cupcakes and fill with raspberry jam, then trim the top of the core and replace on the cupcake.

Icing

To make the glace icing, sift the icing (confectioners’) sugar into a large bowl and mix with the lemon juice until you get a thick smooth icing. Spoon the icing onto each cupcake and use a icing palette knife to gently help ease the icing to the edges. Immediately place half a glace cherry on top of each cupcake, and repeat this step with the remaining cupcakes.

Allow the glace icing to set before serving. Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Lisa, You make such beautiful treats despite your arthritis; what an inspiration you are!
Once again, your photos are stunning! What kind of camera (and lens) do you usually use? I realize that it takes more than good equipment to achieve such fabulous photos, but maybe it will help me. 🙂 You are a talented photographer too!

Thank you so much, Sue. It’s hard to keep going sometimes, but helps when it’s something you love. 🙂

As for my camera equip, I’m using the Canon 5D body with the Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L lens. Both the camera body and the lens are both Mark I versions though, quite old now since the camera body is now on mark III and the lens is on mark II. 😆

I need to upgrade, but as you can see by the links it’s ££££’s! It’s the case of, ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ right now. Nothing wrong with your photos though. 😉

These look gorgeous Lisa, it’s too funny, I’ve got a similar recipe coming up on the blog soon! Great minds 🙂 loving bake off so far, we’ve got Jordan and also Nancy from Lincs. Thank you for the giveaway 🙂

I’m sure they will, Laura. It’s just the icing on the top that’s tricky, but if you use a small icing knife to tease the wet icing to the edge too, they’ll be fine. Or you could just dollop the icing in the middle – both look good.

Thanks for stopping by and entering (if you have, of course), good luck. 🙂

Thank you, Zainab. Unfortunately this is a UK giveaway (sorry), unless you know a friend/family living in the UK. If you do win though, I could perhaps see if OXO are willing to send the goodies to me to forward onto you, but postage might be hefty.

There’s a worldwide giveaway coming up though from some products I bought myself. 🙂

Thank you Helen. I haven’t tried the OXO garlic crusher myself, but I’m sure it’s fantastic though from what I’ve experienced with the other OXO tools. The non-slip coating is perfect for my terrible hands.

Thanks for stopping by and entering (if you have, of course), good luck.

I would probably start with the Bakewell cupcakes as I am not a baker but could follow your instructions. I do love Bakewell tarts but would never have thought of coming up with this idea. I keep intending to try and bake but never get round to buying the necessary equipment so to win this giveaway would be lovely.

I’ve only just found your blog and i’m loving it! i will definitely be trying the cherry bakewell recipe during the week with my children, i usually do a baking day with the kids every so often where we all get messy with the flour (can’t help it, it goes everywhere) they absolutely love it though 🙂

I would make yummy cupcakes! some for my boyfriend for his Birthday in December to put in a little box, to put in a little hamper im making him for out 2 year anniversayry/His birthday/Christams hehe ^_^
He loves them 🙂

Definately a cherry bakewell cake (not tart) as it is my favourite yet I’ve never made one from scratch. All of my family and peers don’t like almonds (or anything almond tasting incl marzipan and korma!) or glace cherries therefore there will me more for me.

These look beautiful! I have a fascination with British food. My husband is originally from England. He has been in the States for many years, but I am always trying to impress him with something to eat from his home country. Thanks for sharing!